re: Draft House (BR) Calling it Quits

It's called not paying your taxes and getting evicted by your landlord. The other places will follow soon

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Stayed at the Watermark this weekend. Around 11:30 after the game, wife and I walked 3rd St. to check it out. First block of of North Blvd was OK, but once we crossed Florida it was a bit disconcerting. Got to Main and decided it was time to get out of there. As we were walking back, wife heard a 'young lady' say "What are THEY doing here." Knew it was time head back.

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Unfortunately, this is a reality that will hinder BR from here on out. It's sad that the downtown investments will eventually be wasted.

It's dead Sunday to Thursday.

On Friday and Saturday, it's flooded with a bunch of trashy people, white and black.

Very few LSU people and people that go to bars like overpass, olive, and bulldog go downtown on a regular basis. Downtown is flooded with people from Baker, Central, and Zachary.

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people from Baker, Central, and Zachary.

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So, Texas Club is no longer a thing?

Delgado won't get much sympathy between how he handled St. George to Alton Sterling.

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It has turned into a very shady clientele late at night...kinda like tigerland once the students are gone for the summer...

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Maybe I'm too optimistic but I think it's salvageable. The Marriott construction is teaming up with that little homeless convenience store, Schlitz, and Raising Cane's to create a little bit of an artificial border at 3rd and Florida at the moment. But replace that dark construction site with a well lighted hotel and it won't look as daunting for non-locals to cross to that side of 3rd St.

Driftwood, Magpie, Blend, etc... aren't really catering to that crowd. River Room ia mixed clientele but the drinks aren't cheap enough to really pull in trash.

The additional 140 apartments or so will also help a little, provided the businesses down there do their part.

But the businesses have to do their part and try to be compete outright, and this is the part that they've sucked at. Draft House could have easily anchored that end of 3rd St, and they flat out chose not to.

It's a type of bar that exists anywhere in the country. The Flying Saucer anchored a dead Houston downtown district for years, practically all alone. The Bulldog in BR is a pain in the rear to get to from just about anywhere in the city, and people fight traffic up and down College Dr. just to get there.

The college population turns over every 4 years, with the population of over 21 college students turns over every 2 years. All of the hotel traffic is largely non-resident business travelers on the weekdays and wedding guests on the weekends, so all of that should combine to help any area re-invent itself pretty quickly if it wants to...but it has to want it.

This isn't New Orleans or some other major tourist hub where you can get rich by just sitting back and leaching off of neighboring businesses.

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The Marriott construction is teaming up with that little homeless convenience store, Schlitz, and Raising Cane's to create a little bit of an artificial border at 3rd and Florida at the moment. But replace that dark construction site with a well lighted hotel and it won't look as daunting for non-locals to cross to that side of 3rd St.

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I think that large apartment complex they're building on 6th and Florida is going to play a big part too. I'm pretty sure it's not "mixed income" so it should infuse a lot of younger people with disposable income into downtown once it's complete.

We also do NOT have a legit Public Transportation system! If there was an easier way to get to and from downtown it would be utilized more and Baton Rouge is not addicted to UBER yet.

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What? What kind of public transportation system are you proposing that BR doesn't already have? There are NUMEROUS 1/4 full city buses patrolling the streets of BR.

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The downtown CATS bus stop was moved a year or two ago from the Old State Capitol to the Frostop, which is kind of a joke.

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There is a downtown trolly that literally drives around all day with no riders.

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According to their website, the trolley runs its short route from South Blvd to the Capitol on weekdays 10:30 AM to 2:30 PM.

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There are cabs available for anyone who wants to use them. It's not exactly difficult to get to downtown BR.

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I'd say it's as difficult to get to downtown as it is most other places in BR.

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The Bulldog in BR is a pain in the rear to get to from just about anywhere in the city, and people fight traffic up and down College Dr. just to get there.

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I guess if you're trying to go at 5pm.

College Dr has no traffic after 6pm along with Perkins.